tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN

Mu's 50th World Premiere production is a powerful final act in a season full of new works by Asian American artists and playwrights.

WORLD PREMIERE

Starring Randy Reyes in the lead role, tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN by Victor Maog follows an immigrant boy who travels from the Ferdinand Marcos-ruled Philippines to the San Francisco Bay Area to meet his long lost parents. He journeys from a country full of strife and military rule only to find himself in his lonely American bedroom conjuring a pro wrestling fantasy to escape his new life.
The last production of our 2015-2016 Season runs for just TWO WEEKS at the Boss Thrust Stage at Park Square Theatre.
Online press kit with images is available here.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Victor Maog was recently named one ofAmerican Theatre Magazine's "20 Theatre Workers You Should Know" (October 2015). He’s also a director and educator with credits including: The Public Theater, Williamstown, Signature, Mabou Mines, Page 73, Working Theatre, Connecticut Rep, Lark, New Dramatists, Yale School of Drama, NYU/Tisch, Brown/Trinity, etc. Received the NEA/TCG Career Development Award, Altvater Fellowship at Cornerstone, Van Lier Directing Fellowship at Second Stage, and the Presidential Award with the Theatre Arts Project, where he served as Artistic Director at age twenty. Currently, he’s Artistic Director of 2g, an inaugural TCG SPARK Leader, and a Show Director for Walt Disney Creative Entertainment. He holds a B.A. in Global Leadership and Performance Studies – NYU/Gallatin. tot is his first full-length play.Victor Maog was born in the Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is a graduate of New York University. Full biography available at www.victormaog.com

TAGALOG IN THE WORLD OF TOT

Tot and his family infuse conversations in English with Tagalog, the language the Philippines. Spoken by about 57 million speakers, particularly in Manila, central and southern parts of Luzon, and also on the islands of Lubang, Marinduque, and parts of Mindoro.
Lola: Grandmother
Tatay: Father
Nanay: Mother
Tia: Aunt
Kuya: Big Brother
Anak: Son/Daughter
Niya: His/thier
Ya-Ya: Nanny/Maid
Voltes V: Japanese Anime Series that debuted in 1977
Sari Sari: Small neighborhood stores selling various stuff
Igurot: Mountain Tribe indigenous people of the Philippines
Baklas: Gay people
Lechon: Roasted pig cooked over charcoal, known as the national dish of the Philippines. Cooked on very special occasions such as festivals, holidays, and birthdays.
Pan de Sal: Filipino Dinner rolls
Patis: Fish Sauce
Toyo: Soy Sauce
Puto: Steamed rice cake
Macdo: McDonalds
Tubig: Water
(Ma)sarap: (very) Delicious
Gandang Ganda: So beautiful
Mahal Kita: I love you
Kulit ka Talaga: You’re being a pest
Bahala sha: Good Riddance
Dios Ko: Oh my God
Galing na galing: Very nice
Aray: Ouch
Pagod na åkö: I’m tired
Puneta: Son of a Bitch
Ano ba: What the heck
Salamat po: Thank You
Bahala na: Good Riddance
Payat Ka: You’re thin
Galing ito: This is good
Sinabi mo merong: You said there was
Suppla: God Forbid!
Tama na: Stop it now
Sige na: Come on
O-o: Yes
Gusto: Like
Ka na: Already
Takot: Afraid
Ako: I
Kawawa: Pity
Asan ang: Where are
Nahihilo: Dizzy
Malalake: Big
Pogi: Handsome
Masyadang: Very
Talaga: Really
Bomba: Naked
Balikbayan: Bringing back
Maraming: More
Dito: Here
Bantoot: Stinky
Walang: Without
Pero: But
Puti Sha: They’re white
Maraming: Many

MARTIAL LAW IN THE MARCOS-RULED PHILIPPINES

Nacionalista Party leader Ferdinand Marcos dominated the political scene of the Philippines for two decades after his election to the presidency in 1965. During his first term, Marcos initiated ambitious public works projects that improved the general quality of life while providing generous benefits to his friends. Marcos lobbied strenuously for economic and military aid from the United States while resisting significant involvement in the Second Indochina War (1954–75).
Marcos was reelected in 1969, but early in his second term economic growth slowed, optimism faded, and the crime rate increased. A new communist insurgency, led by the new Communist Party and its military arm, the New People’s Army, was on the rise. The Moro National Liberation Front was founded and conducted an insurgency in Muslim areas. Political violence blamed on leftists led Marcos to suspend habeas corpus as a prelude to martial law.
Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and did not lift it until January 17, 1981. During this time, he called for self-sacrifice and an end to the old society. However, in the “New Society” Marcos’s cronies and his wife, former movie actress Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, wilfully engaged in rampant corruption, becoming governor of Metropolitan Manila and minister of human settlements. The previously nonpolitical armed forces became highly politicized, with high-ranking positions being given to Marcos loyalists. In 1979 the United States reaffirmed Philippine sovereignty over U.S. military bases and continued to provide military and economic aid to the Marcos regime. When martial law was lifted in 1981 and a “New Republic” proclaimed, little had actually changed, and Marcos
easily won reelection.
The beginning of the end of the Marcos era occurred when his chief political rival, Liberal Party leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, who had been jailed by Marcos for eight years, was assassinated at the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983, following medical treatment in the United States. Marcos cronies were charged with this crime but were acquitted. Aquino, however, became a martyr and his murder the focus of popular indignation against a corrupt regime.
The Catholic Church, a coalition of old political opposition groups, the business elite, the left wing, and even factions of the armed forces all began to exert pressure on the regime. Feeling confident with the support given by the Reagan White House, Marcos called a “snap” presidential election for
February 7, 1986.
When Marcos was proclaimed the winner, Cardinal Jaime Sin and key
military leaders (including Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and acting Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. General Fidel V. Ramos) rallied around the apparent majority vote winner, Aquino’s widow, Corazon Cojuango Aquino. The People Power Movement—a popular uprising of priests, nuns, ordinary citizens, and children, supported by defecting military units—ousted Marcos on the day of his inauguration (February 25,
1986) and brought Aquino to power in an almost bloodless revolution.

30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION

The footsteps came at break of light. Agapito “Butz” Aquino reckoned that just twenty people answered his call to gather and march to Camp Aguinaldo, where they would take a stand against the Marcos Dictatorship. But in a few minutes, more footsteps arrived. The crowd of twenty grew into a hundred, and then teemed into thousands. And the march of a few Filipinos transformed into the journey of an entire nation.
From February 22 to 25, 1986, the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution would continue to astound Butz Aquino. Thousands more flocked to Camp Aguinaldo, responding to Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin’s appeal for them to protect soldiers who defected against the Marcos Dictatorship. “I ask you to support Mr. Enrile and Gen. Ramos, give them food if you like, they are our friends," the Manila Archbishop earlier said over Radio Veritas.
Each time the Marcos Dictatorship would send its military forces to stifle People Power, it seemed that another miracle would transpire. Frustrated over decades of injustice, misrule, and the widespread fraud during the snap elections, Filipinos defiantly stood their ground against tear gas and tanks. When General Artemio Tadiar led a contingent of Marines in tanks to attack the rebel soldiers, the people formed a human barricade and held them at bay. When the gunships of the 15th Strike Wing began to circle Camp Crame with orders to attack, the civilians still would not disperse. However, instead of firing their cannons and rockets, the gunships landed on Crame, the pilots disembarked, and Colonel Antonio Sotelo announced the defection of the entire 15th Strike Wing.
People Power also astounded observers throughout the world. Members of the international media documented poignant stories of nuns sharing food with the soldiers sent to hurt them, of strangers linking arms despite apparent differences, and of the music of “Bayan Ko” — banned by the Dictatorship after being labeled an opposition song — triumphantly being sung on the streets and broadcasted over Radyo Bandido.
At daybreak of February 25, the Dictatorship — started 14 years ago through lies and the imprisonment of those who spoke against it — finally fell. The courage and solidarity shown by the Filipino people had defeated the country’s most brutal regime. United States senator Paul Laxalt told former President Marcos: “I think you should cut, and cut cleanly.” At 10:15 am on that same day, Cory Aquino arrived at the Club Filipino and was inaugurated as the President of the Philippines. At 7:30 pm, United States helicopters landed on the Pangarap golf course to pick up the Marcos family. The news was later announced over DZRH: “The Marcoses have fled the country.”
In her inaugural speech, President Cory Aquino, addressed a liberated nation, and in words that would resound through history, described the victory of People Power: “We became exiles, we Filipinos who are at home only in freedom, when Marcos destroyed the Republic fourteen years ago. Now, by God’s grace and the power of the people, we are free again.” Source: http://edsapeoplepower.com

THE CAST

Tot

Randy Reyes*

Lola/Mother Superior

Mary Ann Prado

Mo/The Dame

Hope Nordquist

Kitty/The American Dream

Stephanie Bertumen

Off/Announcer

Eric "Pogi" Sumangil*

The Orbiter

Torsten Johnson

Chorus

Michelle de Joya

Chorus

Kyle Legacion

* denotes member of Actors Equity

PRODUCTION STAFF

Director

Randy Reyes*

Co-Director

Ellen Fenster

Assistant Director

Christian Bardin

Stage Manager

Katie Kenfield*

Scenic Designer

Sarah Brandner

Sound Designer

Matthew Vichlach

Lighting Designer

Karin Olson

Costume Designer

Samantha Fromm Haddow

Props Mistress

Abbee Warmboe

Fight Choreographer

Brandon Ewald

Technical Director

Alex Olsen

Assistant Stage Manager

Natasha Victa

* denotes member of Actors Equity

SPONSORS

Developed as a part of the Jerome Foundation's series of new works
Financed in part by the Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization Program